


Lie Forever in the Arms of the Ocean

by lyn452



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Shipwrecked, F/M, Fish out of Water, Forbidden Love, Mermaids as Sirens, Past Violence, Sailor - Freeform, Sirens, Sirens as Mermaids, Song Lyrics, True Love's Kiss, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 20:43:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20895833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyn452/pseuds/lyn452
Summary: Jon Snow finds himself shipwrecked and near death when he hears a beautiful song, calling to him, and he swims towards his salvation or his doom. Daenerys has never seen such a pretty man before, or any man who wasn't distorted by death.





	Lie Forever in the Arms of the Ocean

**Author's Note:**

> Song: Arms of the Ocean by Blackbriar

“An ill wind,” Tormund said, coming up behind the younger sailor.

Jon Snow nodded. Tormund was a grizzled sailor, who spent years at sea earning a small fortune and then months on land spending every dime that he’d earned. Then he repeated the cycle. Jon wasn’t like that. He had a goal. He had a vision. 

Or at least he thought he did.

He’d been planning to earn enough to keep a wife, but Ygritte had told him when they said good-bye the last time, “I’m not built for this, being a sailor’s wife. I can’t just sit and wait for you.” Her jaw had twitched. “Take me with you.”

Jon thought of Stannis Baratheon, his captain and his utter belief that women didn’t belong on ships and what he might do to Ygritte if discovered. First Mate Davos would probably let it slide, but Stannis never would. “No,” he replied firmly.

“Oh, come on. I’m just as good on a boat as you. I can…”

“No, Ygritte,” Jon interrupted. Stannis was a hard man and a life at sea wasn’t the adventure he thought Ygritte pictured.

Her face twisted into a snarl. “Then we are through, Jon Snow. I can’t do this anymore, I cannot wait for you like one of those fucking women whose lives revolve around their husbands. I cannot do it. No.”

“Ygritte, please, I know this is a hard life, but it’s almost over, just a few more trips and I’ll have enough money…”

This time she interrupted him. “No, you don’t get it. It was never about the money. I didn’t care if we lived in a cave somewhere. But I can’t do this. It’s not me. Don’t you see that?” Her eyes searched his. Then she stepped away from him. “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”

Jon didn’t understand. How could she do that to him? Break his heart so casually. He stood there on the dock, looking at the blank space she had been standing in until Tormund slapped him on the shoulder and told him it was time to board the ship. He numbly followed his friend.

Jon didn’t know what that moment meant for everything he’d been planning now. He’d foolishly started to build his life around a woman who didn’t want to be tied down. Now here he was, at sea, and without an anchor to bring him home. What was he to do?

He thought of returning home, to Winterfell, but he’d left because he couldn’t stand the thought of living on his brother’s charity. It was still something he couldn’t bear. So that was out. 

There were other places he could go, but the world was a small place when you’d sailed it so often. 

The boat jerked, throwing Jon from his thoughts. He ran to his spot on deck and began tying down a cannon. Summer storms could come out of nowhere, and this one was far from his first one, but the wind whipped in a way that seemed ominous. The salt water pelted Jon’s face as he made his way to the next cannon. He could hear Captain Baratheon yelling commands that were being lost to the wind. Visibility was rapidly decreasing until all Jon could see was the rope he was struggling with and the black iron of the cannon. 

The ship lurched again, this time throwing Jon into the railing. He nearly fell into the roaring ocean, but he regained his balance quick enough to stay on the wooden vessel. Jon forced his way back to finish his task, but the cannon attempted to roll away, and Jon was forced to catch it. The heavy piece of equipment was too much for him, but his muscles were large from years of hard work and he forced the damned thing back into place. He grabbed the rope again to tie it into place.

In that moment, the ship bounced up on a wave and launched Jon into the air. The moment of weightlessness startled Jon, even as he enjoyed the feeling of lightness he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt before. 

Then he crashed into the waves, water flooded his nostrils and he swallowed the salt water. He spit it out on instinct, before a wave pushed him under the surface. Jon’s survival instincts kicked in and he forced himself to the surface again. He took in big gulps of air as his eyes scanned for the ship. But the darkness and water disguised everything. 

A flash of lightning illuminated everything for a moment, and Jon saw the ship in the shadow of a massive wave that was about swallow it whole. He could swear he saw some beast of the depth within the wave, ready to devour it. 

Jon went under again. He swam up again, and when he resurfaced again there was no ship. Jon worried for his friends, for Tormund, Davos and others, but he couldn’t save them before he saved himself. He began to swim away. It may have just been his mind playing tricks, but he knew better than to stay in the same vicinity of some kraken. 

Jon wasn’t sure how long he swam, all he knew was his arms and legs were rapidly tiring. The storm was still swirling around him, but it was no longer as fierce as it had been. Still, Jon knew the battle he was losing. Without any land or anything to float on, he’d die as soon as exhaustion took him. And his limbs told him he didn’t have long.

That was when he heard the first note, a sweet-sounding song on the winds. He’d heard plenty of tales of mermaids and sirens who led men to their deaths, but Jon was already a dead man, so he swam towards the music. 

The music in the air began to overwhelm his senses and Jon let it lull him. His muscles burned at their overuse, but Jon let the sweet promise of the beautiful singing reassure him of salvation. 

_ Oh my dear and weary sailor_  
_Come to my shore, it’s way safer_  
_Than the roaring sea  
_ _I need you here with me_

“Women lie, Snow,” a memory of Stannis Baratheon told him. “Magic women most of all. Be wary of such beauties. They will destroy you with their dark arts.” He spoke as a man of experience and conviction. Davos had whispered a tale of red witch to Jon one night in a tavern. It was why Stannis was exiled from his home and family; he’d let himself be enchanted by a witch’s charms. 

_ Oh my sweet and wary man_  
_Follow my voice and take my hand  
_ _Let me take you to the promised land_

Some part of Jon remembered the sense of the words, but now his mind was too far gone. He was too willing to die for this mysterious voice. “It would be a sweeter death than the unforgiving sea,” the song promised him. Jon raced to such salvation, his mind drowning before his body could. 

_ Come swim to me in a forward motion  
__Lie with me in the arms of the ocean_

Jon could feel his arms and legs spasming and knew they would seize and take him no further soon, but he forced himself to push on. The song was so close, his ears were full of the sweet melody.

_ Oh sing to me, my lady of the sea  
__Show me the way with your melody_

As his body began to fail him, Jon looked up to see a rocky shore line. He saw no sign of life however, and he nearly laughed in his foolishness. The song had stopped now and he understood what had happened, his mind had supplied him with a fantastical tale before death. He wasn’t close enough to the island to make it as he could feel his limbs give out and felt the pull of the sea drag him down. 

Jon took one last breath before the ocean took him under. The weightlessness returned, but water put on a pressure not found within the air. Jon felt it squeeze him. He knew he’d drown soon. Still, he fought against it, holding his breath for as long as he could. 

He felt a tiny set of hands grip under his arms and pull him. Jon thought little of his delusions. His mind was too far gone. He’d been imagining monsters for hours now, first a kraken then a siren, what were tugging hands to that?

Jon barely noticed when he broke out of the water, pulled up onto a rock. But he inhales nevertheless, his body understanding he was saved before his mind registers anything. His head rolls and he looks up even as his vision darkens and sleep takes him. 

The last image he saw was a beautiful woman looking over him before he lost consciousness. 

* * *

Daenerys studied the man who she’d pulled onto her rock, leaning forward as she swung her glittering tail back behind her. She had stopped singing, which she knew wasn’t supposed to happen. That was the only reason for her to be on the surface. She certainly wasn’t supposed to be saving any sailors, but she had been curious. She’d never seen a man before, at least not a living one. All the men she had seen were smashed in by the rocks of the siren’s shore or bloated by drowning in the sea. 

He’s pretty was her first thought. Carefully, as though he might hurt her, she pushed back his dark curls from his face. 

Her breath caught. He was very pretty. She hadn’t known that human men could be anything but coarse and rough. Visenya had always scolded her for her gentle heart, as she never took delight in the deaths of sailors as her sisters did. She knew she would be in more trouble if the man was discovered, but Daenerys couldn’t help it. 

He’d been so close to rescue, she couldn’t just let him die. None of her sisters were here to see her save him, and there had been no other men with him. They were alone. What did it matter to the rest of the world?

Of course it did matter. Daenerys looked around at the other rocks, where her sisters would sit and sing. They were all below surface now, but they would emerge at some point. They found it fun to lure men to their deaths. 

She had nowhere to hide him, Daenerys realized. And he would have to be hidden. Visenya would drown him herself if she found him. “It would be a pity to destroy such beauty,” Daenerys thought. Then she dismissed such childish thinking. She tried lifting him, but now a dead weight, the man was even heavier than he had been before. 

Still she carried him to the beach beyond the rocks, dragging him up shore. She knew she could be discovered at any moment, and she had no lie to cover up her actions. She could only hope that her sisters didn’t come up. Most of them stayed below in their city beneath the waves when it storms, only Daenerys enjoyed watching the seas churn.

Stormborn, they called her. They called her a lot of things. She knew she was odd compared to her sisters. Too soft-hearted. Too kind. Too romantic. 

She tried to show them differently, but as she pulled the man to into the treeline, covering him with branches to hide him from view, she wondered if they were right about her. Perhaps she could never completely cover and deny her true self, no matter how hard she tried to be the heartless siren or cold mermaid. 

Daenerys did her best to hide the evidence, wiping the sand clean with her tail. She surveyed the island from her rock and didn't notice any change that might alert her sisters. It would have to be good enough. She had already stayed away from the city for too long. She dove into the depths to join her sisters.

Valyria, the city beneath the sea, was surrounded by hot springs that kept out any curious creatures. Only Targaryen mermaids could handle the heat of the water. The city itself was composed of dragonglass, a haven of polished black hidden within coral. Daenerys sped through the water, trying to gain back any time she could. 

She was slightly breathless within the safety of her city, but she hid it well. She slowed her pace, going to her home and nodding at those she came across in polite greeting. Daenerys still lived with her mother, Rhaella, but she knew her mother wouldn’t ask too many questions, having long ago gotten used to Daenerys’ strange habits.

Unfortunately, when Daenerys swam in, Visenya was there too. Daenerys instantly tensed at the sight of their queen. Visenya used to share the queenship with her sister-wife Rhaenys, until she fell in love with Aegon and left with him. Visenya had never forgiven or forgotten the hurt of that action and was now super vigilant about losing other sisters to any men.

The only other loss had been Alysanne to Jaerherys. 

Daenerys forced herself to relax. She had done nothing wrong, not really. It wasn’t like she would be running off with the sailor she’d rescued. She didn’t even know his name. She smiled despite her mother’s worried face, “Queen Visenya, what are you doing here?”

Visenya returned the smile, but it was predatory rather than friendly. “You are the youngest daughter, it’s only natural for me to worry about you when you go out on your excursions during storms. As you are so determined to do.”

Daenerys took a seat, the water pushing her hair and breasts upwards. “It’s kind of you to worry, your grace, but I can look after myself. What can threaten a siren?”

Visenya rose. “There are many horrible creatures in the depths of the ocean, little one. Not to mention the constant threat of men.” She spit the last word.

Daenerys gave nothing away. “I’m as gifted in the art of dead men as anyone, and storms do much of the work for me when it comes to sailors.” 

Visenya’s eyes stayed narrowed, but she nodded to Rhaella and left without any further questions. Daenerys released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Rhaella swam to her, “Why did you take so long to return, child? You know Visenya doesn’t like any of us out her sight for too long, not since Rhaenys’ betrayal.”

Daenerys’ bit her lip before she asked a question she had always wondered about, “Was it a betrayal? She only fell in love.”

Rhaella adjusted her daughter’s hair, “Oh child, you don’t understand, a mermaid in love cannot rejoin her sisters. She is bound to her mate forever instead.”

“How?” Daenerys asked, trying not to think of the pretty face of the sailor she’d rescued. Too worried what such a thing might mean. 

“If you ever truly love someone, you will know how to keep them, my love. But I hope you never do, as I don’t want to lose you.” 

Daenerys squeezed her mother’s hand in comfort, but her own thoughts only held more questions.

* * *

Jon woke up covered with branches. He pushed them off of him and took in his surroundings. Hadn’t he been on a rock before? Hadn’t there been a woman? His head ached and he brought his hand up to hold it as well as look for any injury. 

He found no wounds, but his parched lips told him he had probably swallowed some seawater, which explained odd memories of a beautiful woman rescuing him. He looked at the beach for any traces of his rescuer, but the beach was clean.

Odd, he thought. The tide wasn’t in, so there should be tracks if he’d carried himself up here. The sea wouldn’t have time to wash it away, unless there had been someone else who’d deliberately covered their tracks. 

But then, Jon didn’t know how long he’d been here and his head hurt too much to think about this now, so instead he struggled to his feet. He needed to find fresh water, or his rescue would be short-lived. He stumbled into the trees of the island. He had no idea where he was. They’d been sailing near Lys when the ship crashed, but who knew where the tide had carried him? 

In the center of the island, Jon found a well of fresh water and he gulped down handfuls greedily. When he finished, he collapsed on the ground nearby. He knew he needed to map out the island and try to figure out where he was and form a plan of how to survive until he could be rescued. But he was exhausted, despite having been passed out for who knew how long, and so he just laid there thought about how much he would need to do and what he had to plan.

Finally, he forced himself up. His stomach growled, and Jon realized it he hadn’t eaten since hours before the ship sank. He decided his first course of action would be finding food. There were coconuts and berries on the island along with opportunity to fish on the north side of the island. He sharpened a stick, feeling like he’d reverted back to his ancestors, and stabbed at the squirming he could spot under the water’s surface. 

Of course, once he’d caught a few fish, he realized he had no way to make fire. He attempted to use the sun and his knife to light one, but his attempts were unsuccessful. Looking at the scaly creature, Jon began to wonder how bad raw fish would actually taste. 

A noise in the south drew his attention, and Jon left his fish behind as he walked to the sound. It wasn’t the same sweet tune that had drew him to this place, but it reminded him of it. Enchanting, he thought. Part of him cautioned him against exposing himself, but his feet carried him to the sweet sound, taking him to the edge of the trees that covered him. 

As he began to emerge, something tackled him to the ground. He was mostly confused as to why he was on the ground, still wanting to walk to the music. But then he felt a pair of warm hands covering his ears and he finally focused on his surroundings and his wits returned to him. He looked up to see his rescuer.

It was her. The maid from his vision, the last thing he’d seen before blacking out. She was even more beautiful than she’d been then. Her violet eyes and silver hair were unlike anything he’d ever seen on a woman before. He wanted to speak to her, but she gave him a look that kept him silenced. His still lagging mind finally told him that he was probably in danger. So he stayed silent, waiting for her to release him. 

It felt like hours, or minutes, he wasn’t sure, as he was given the chance to stare at her beauty so close. Even without her siren’s song, she was enchanting. When he glanced down, he was shocked by her massive fish’s tail and the fact that she had nothing covering her but her long locks of hair. 

Jon blushed and tried to avert his eyes, but there wasn’t really anywhere else to look, so instead he tried to remain focused on her eyes. A man could get lost in them as easily as the sea, he thought. Then wondered when he’d gotten so damned poetic. 

Her hands were removed and she brought her arms behind her so she could back off of him. Reluctantly, Jon rose up himself so he could sit up. His eyes focused on his lap. He wanted to keep staring at her, but it wasn’t gentlemanly. And while Jon wasn’t a gentleman, he’d been raised alongside of one. Still looking away, he said, “Thank you.”

He glanced up to see her reaction, and she was looking away from him as well. He wasn’t sure, but he could almost see a stain of blushing across her cheeks. Did mermaids blush? They certainly didn’t in any of the tales he knew. He chewed on his cheek before he asked, “Do you, do you know the common tongue?”

Her eyes met his. “I know every tongue,” she responded in that light voice of hers. “My sisters and I adapt every language of man.” 

Jon didn’t know that about her kind either. He nodded as his mind rolled with questions, but he didn’t know what to ask first. He feared risking her anger if he worded something indelicately. He knew plenty of tales about these women’s wrath, which almost always ended in a sailor’s grisly death.

The question he ended up asking surprised even him, “Do you have any way to start a fire?”

“Fire,” she repeated. “I know of fire, but…” She shrugged. He guessed that made sense, why would a creature of the sea need or want fire. She then asked, “What do you need fire for? What does it do?”

Jon stood up, intending to show her his pile of fish. He held his arms out, intending to carry her. She looked back to the sea before tentatively offering up her own arms. He bent down and lifted her up. She didn’t weigh much. It was strange carrying a mermaid, he thought as he walked her into where he’d made a sort of home. One hand was holding cold scales and the other warm flesh. He was careful to keep his second hand on her back, but her nudity still made it seem improper. He kept his eyes forward. 

He gently laid her down and then explained, “I wanted to cook fish to eat, and it will be night soon. It will get cold and fire will keep me warm.”

She looked at his pile of fish. She pointed to one of the holes in the fish that had been caused by his spear. “What is this? What did you do?”

Jon wasn’t sure if he should feel ashamed by the question and looked away as he answered, “I used that,” he pointed to his makeshift spear, “to stab them.”

She nodded. “Is this what men do? Stab?”

Jon wasn’t sure how to answer. “Sometimes, I guess. I only do it when necessary.” He nodded to the pile of fish. “I needed to eat.”

She looked again. “Fire and blood, is that all there is to men?”

“No,” Jon replied. He stood up and then asked, “What’s your name?”

“Daenerys,” she said.

“I’m Jon,” he held out his hand, but she obviously didn’t understand what he was doing. So he let it drop again. Jon now remembered everything Stannis warned him about sirens, how they stole men’s souls with their voices. How they were sea witches and demons whose eyes alone could drown a man. He could pretty much confirm the eye thing, the violet orbs drew him in now even as he resisted the pull.

Davos had joked, “Ah, yes, they only bring death to sailors, but what a beautiful death it is.” He’d winked while Stannis’ frown deepened. Jon had just thought it a perfect representation of the two men then, now... he wasn’t sure what to make of this creature. He wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Even if he was rescued, what then? He had no real home to return to, no one waiting for him, and with the ship lost, his job was gone. He was lost, in more ways than one. 

“Are all men as broody as you?” Daenerys asked. The question made Jon smile. He’d been accused of being too broody his whole life. Robb had joked that even as a child, Jon would brood over his toys. 

“No,” he responded. He sighed, looking off at the sun setting over the sea through the trees. It was always a beautiful sight, one Jon never thought lost its magic. “I just...I don’t know what to do next. I don’t know where I can go from here.”

“You can’t be seen by my sisters,” Daenerys said. “They’ll kill you if they see you.”

“That’s not…” Jon cut himself off. How did one explain the life of an average man to a creature of legend? He then thought through her words of warning and turned to her. “Your sisters...are you in danger for helping me?”

Now she looked away. Jon couldn’t help but notice the shift in her head exposed one of her breasts, he averted his eyes from the sight, trying not to let it arouse him. A battle he was sure to lose, but Jon had never shied away from fights he couldn’t win. Daenerys answered, “No, I...our queen doesn’t like men, or humans, and commands them all killed on sight. My sisters have no problem with these orders but I…” She cut herself off, causing Jon to look at her. She looked so sad. Her eyes connected with his as she looked up. “My mother says I have too gentle a heart.”

Jon squatted down to sit again. He wanted to brush her hair back behind her ears or caress her face, but he stayed his hand, not wanting to give her the wrong idea. “A gentle heart isn’t a weakness. I’m so grateful for it and for you.” He risked taking her hand in his. “You saved my life, Dany. You could kill me without any trouble, but you chose to save me. It was a hard choice, but you made it. I will be eternally grateful for it.” 

“Dany,” she questioned.

“Daenerys,” he corrected himself.

“I don’t mind Dany, Jon,” his name sounded like a new thing on her lips. It made Jon’s stomach churn to hear it. 

“Dany,” he reaffirmed, squeezing her hands slightly. 

She shifted, leaving her breasts completely exposed. He let go of her hands and looked away, blushing. Daenerys seemed upset by this action, so Jon explained, “You’re naked.”

“What is naked?”

He gestured to himself, “I’m wearing clothes, see. You are not. You are naked.”

She cocked her head, looking at his torn clothing. “Why are you wearing clothes?”

“Because...it’s…” Jon had never had to think about why they must wear clothes before. “Because it’s proper.”

The woman wrinkled her face and then pronounced, “Humans are strange creatures.” 

Jon smiled a bit at her pronouncement, finding humor in the fact she would find him strange. She looked to the sun and said sadly, “I’ll be missed soon. I need to go.”

Jon nodded, understanding. “Do you want me to carry you back?”

She looked down, deciding, before looking up and nodding. Jon lifted her as carefully as possible and walked back to the other side of the island, where the sirens had lured him. He decided he best find some way to plug his ears while he stayed here. He couldn’t rely on Daenerys always being there to rescue him. He hesitated at the edge of the trees, but then stepped onto the beach, laying Dany down near the waves. 

She hesitated to leave him, which Jon understood. He wanted to spend more time with her as well. He blurted out, “Will I see you again?”

Daenerys looked down shyly. “Do you want to?”

Jon answered honestly, “Always.”

* * *

It didn’t take long for Daenerys to establish a routine of visiting Jon on what she was beginning to think of as their island. Her mother was the only one who seemed to notice Daenerys’ growing happiness and absences, but she said nothing to her daughter. Daenerys wanted to confess everything to Rhaella, but she didn’t want to get her mother into trouble. Their agreed silence was best. 

But Daenerys longed to speak about Jon to someone. How his raven hair could look red in the right shade of sunlight, so different from the silver-blonde hair she’d always known. How the hair of his beard was both soft and bristly. How the deep timber of his voice lacked the enchanting qualities of her own, but held its own kind of magic, as she constantly felt tingles when he spoke or chuckled. How she had once spotted him nude and seen how different he looked from her, but at the same time, she longed to explore those differences. 

Every time she was with Jon now, she could feel a longing for something, but what she longed for, she didn’t know. It was frustrating yet she wouldn’t give it up for anything. 

She couldn’t ask any of her family, but she decided it was time to be brave enough to discuss it with Jon. She’d hesitated for over a week, as her embarrassment held her tongue. But she was a siren, a goddess of the sea. She wouldn’t fear a man. 

Decision made, Daenerys began to make her way back to the surface, but she ran into Queen Visenya nearly literally in her distraction of shoring up her courage to speak with Jon. She swam back at her queen’s sharp look and bowed her head in submission. 

“Where are you off to, little one?” Visenya asked. 

Daenerys knew she couldn’t lie, but she also couldn’t tell the truth. “I’m going up to the surface,” she said simply, hoping that she wouldn’t be questioned further.

Her hope was misplaced. “You’ve been spending a lot of time on the surface lately,” Visenya said. “I’ve been wondering what’s changed. It used to be storms drew you up, but otherwise you seemed happy here with your family. Has something changed?”

Daenerys felt both guilty and defiant. She loved Visenya and the rest of her family, but she also hated being controlled. “I love my family dearly, my sister, but my heart also holds some love for the air found above.” She whipped her tail behind her, despite not moving to go anywhere.

Visenya’s eyes narrowed, “Men are poisoning that air, as they poison everything. Men are cruel beasts who steal and murder beauty, and they would destroy everything.” 

Daenerys did lie this time. “I know nothing of men, but I know that they are not all Aegon.”

Visenya’s anger was immediately and felt the smack across her face before she’d had a chance to see the hand raised against her. “That name is forbidden here,” Visenya hissed. 

Daenerys cupped her stinging cheek, but she looked at her sister, the same strong blood flowed through both of their veins. She would not submit, not even to her queen. She removed her hand and held herself straighter. Her height didn’t match Visenya’s but Daenerys felt as tall. “Aegon was but a man. We do not fear men. We are goddesses of the sea. Or do you not believe that, sister?”

Without waiting for her answer, Daenerys swam past her queen, leaving her behind in her fury. Daenerys knew she would pay for her actions, knew that she’d angered the worst possible Targaryen, but she didn’t care. Let her rage, Daenerys thought. She loved her family, but she was beginning to understand why Rhaenys might have left. Visenya’s love was as smothering as it was fierce. Daenerys wasn’t built to be chained. 

When she reached the surface, Daenerys inhaled deeply. She looked out to the open air, which held so much less pressure than the waters below. She remembered how the weight of water used to comfort her, but now Daenerys found she was growing to resent it. Her eyes found the island and she swam to its shore.

She swam to Jon.

He was waiting at the edge of the beach. She knew he hadn’t been waiting for her. There was no way for them to plan when she might get away, but it still warmed her heart to see him right away. He smiled at the sight of her, removing the torn fragments of his shirt from his ears. She grinned back at him, climbing up the beach as fast as she could. 

Jon’s grey eyes held a twinkle as he asked, “What’s got you so excited, Dany?”

Daenerys almost related the story of standing up to Visenya to him, but she didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. Though what the wrong idea was, she wasn’t sure. Instead, still fresh from her bravery with her queen, she asked, “Why do you stare at my naked breasts, Jon?”

Whatever he had thought she would say that clearly wasn’t it. “What?” he stuttered. 

Daenerys grabbed his hands, encouraging him to sit and face her. He wasn’t looking at her, but he followed her guidance. She decided that his nervousness might be allayed by some more bravery on her part. So she told him, “I saw you naked too, Jon. Last week. It affected me. Do you understand?”

His eyes met hers. He didn’t look at her with disgust or anger, as she feared he might. Instead his eyes held a look of awe. She’d known men to look at her like this before, but she wasn’t singing. It made her heart beat faster to see. He nodded. Daenerys waited for his explanation, but it didn’t come. 

So she asked bluntly, “What is the feeling you get from seeing another naked?”

Jon chuckled, looking down, “You’ve spent too much time with me, Dany. Your manners are becoming blunt.” He looked her in the eyes again. “It’s lust or love, I’m not sure which one.”

Daenerys suspected a lie in his words. “How do you know which one?”

Jon reached out and took her hand in his own. His thumb brushed over her knuckles. “Normally, I would kiss a woman to find out. Fuck her, even. If the feelings go away, it was lust. If they deepened…”

It was love, her mind finished for him. She scooted closer to him. “Don’t you want to know?”

His eyes darkened as Jon’s eyes swept over her. “Yes,” he groaned. His eyes closed, “But honestly I don’t know how fucking would work.” His eyes shot to her tail, and for the first time in her life, Daenerys longed for human legs. “And kissing…” his eyes closed again. 

Daenerys prompted him, coming close enough to him so that their shoulders were touching. “Why can we not kiss, Jon?”

Jon looked at her, as if he were in pain. “It might just be foolishness, but legend says that a mermaid’s kiss is deadly to anyone who isn’t her true love. It’s supposed to be an agonizing way to go.”

Daenerys looked away from him this time. “It’s true,” she whispered. “That death is agony.” She remembered when her sister Rhaena kissed that sailor, Maegor, how he’d thrashed in the water and foamed at the mouth as her sisters laughed. Daenerys watched too, but she’d felt nothing but pity for the sailor. A weak man was no match for her or one of her sisters. She scooted away from Jon now, sharing his fear and hesitation. She could never do that to him. She wouldn’t be able to bare watching him die. 

They sat on the beach, holding hands, as well as holding their thoughts in. Daenerys desperately wanted to kiss Jon, but it wasn’t worth the risk. But then she thought more about what Jon had said, “What if he is?”

“What?” Jon turned to her.

“What if he is her true love, what happens then if they kiss.”

Jon shrugged. “I’m not sure. Some stories say they become eternally joined together as creatures of the sea, some say the mermaid becomes human. I’m not sure what the truth is.” 

Daenerys thought of Rhaenys and Aegon, and Alysanne and Jaehaerys. It did happen. She wasn’t sure what it meant either, but she knew that there could be happy endings for a man and a mermaid. She thought about her answer, but then a song could be heard in the air, a sweet but deadly tune.

Jon slumped forward, suddenly sleepy. Daenerys looked out to the rocks and saw her sisters, led by Visenya. She knew she should be afraid, but she was only annoyed at having her time with Jon interrupted. Daenerys searched until she found the eyes of her mother. Rhaella looked so sad. 

Daenerys pushed herself forward, staying as high as she could on land, as her eyes met Visenya’s. She knew she’d broken the most important of rules, but she placed herself between the queen and Jon, not wanting any harm to come to him. She didn’t know if she loved him, but she knew she would see no harm come to him.

Visenya seemed disappointed in Daenerys’ actions. “He’ll only hurt you, little one. That’s what men do.”

“You know nothing of men,” Daeneys said back.

Visenya swam forward until she was nearly on the shore. “No, sweet child, you know nothing of men. Do you know the fate of a mermaid who falls in love with a man?”

“If their love is true, eternal happiness,” Daenerys jutted out her chin.

“No, little one,” Visenya said. “The man is gifted eternal life from her kiss and they are joined together forever, but happiness is not guaranteed. Do you know what happened to Rhaenys? Aegon got her killed. He brought her body back to me, a mere decade after stealing her from me. He begged me to help him, but I could do nothing but join in his weeping. She had been stabbed. Apparently they had gone above land, living as humans, and someone grew jealous of Rhaenys' unnatural beauty and stabbed her. She died in her lover’s arms. That’s your fate, Daenerys. If you chose this path.” Visenya brought out a knife. “This is the dagger that killed my sister, my love. Save yourself from the same fate, little one.” Visenya’s eyes looked to Jon. “Save yourself from the hurt.”

Daenerys took the blade, absorbing the sad tale. The tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. Was it true? But looking at Visenya’s sad look, she knew the tale wasn’t a lie. “What about Alysanne?” Daenerys asked. 

Visenya looked away at the question, but Rhaena, Alysanne’s sister, answered, “No one knows what happened to her and Jaehaerys.” 

Daenerys could feel the hope bubbling up in her, but Visenya forced it back. “He may have died with her. You belong with us, Daenerys. You are safe with your sisters. He cannot protect you. You must do this.” Visenya took Daenerys’ hand. “I knew Aegon first. I could have killed him, but he looked so like us with his silver-blonde hair and violet eyes, so I spared him. I spared his life, and he repaid me by taking my sister’s life in return. Do not make my mistake, Daenerys.”

Daenerys clutched on the blade, torn. She brought the knife to her chest, not knowing what to do. She couldn’t hurt Jon, but she didn’t want to die. She needed to think. She needed to speak with Jon. She needed time to decide without Visenya’s sharp gaze piercing her. “Please leave me, let me be alone.” 

“No. We will be with you,” Visenya said. “You may need our strength.” 

“She deserves privacy,” Rhaella said, swimming forward. Visenya seemed ready to argue, but Daenerys’ mother snapped, “I did my duty with my sailor. You think my daughter would do differently?”

Daenerys looked to her mother, a thousand questions running through her mind. What sailor? Had her mother faced this same test? How had Daenerys not known? Why hadn’t her mother ever told her? In her confusion, Rhaella swam to Daenerys who pulled herself to her mother, and Rhaella held Daenerys’ face gently. Her eyes were always so sad, and Daenerys finally realized why. “My brave little Daenerys, I love you. Your sisters love you. Always choose love.”

Despite her words, Daenerys felt the good-bye in her mother’s touch. Rhaella turned from her daughter and looked to Visenya. Reluctantly the queen ordered them all away. 

Daenerys held the knife in her hand, as she waited for Jon to wake again. Her stomach turned like wrestling eels. What should she do? 

Jon held his head as he woke up. He seemed surprised that Daenerys was still there. “What happened?” he asked. 

Daenerys ignored his question, staring into the sea, the dagger held close to her chest. She doubted Jon could see it from his spot behind her. She asked, “Do you love me, Jon?”

He hesitated and asked again, “Dany, what happened?”

Dany, Daenerys’ eyes closed at the name. Could she really live for an eternity without ever hearing him calling her that again? 

When she opened her eyes again, she had made up her mind. She turned around revealing the dagger. Jon’s eyes went to it as he flinched back from both her and it. But he didn’t run from her. His eyes searched hers for the answers she didn’t seem to be giving him. 

Daenerys moved towards him, once again wishing for legs as it would make it less awkward on land. She didn’t get far as he ran to her. She clung to him and he accepted her into his arms, hugging her tightly despite her still holding on to the knife. She wanted to weep, but instead she said into his chest, “I love you, Jon. Do you trust that, completely?”

From his tenseness, Daenerys guessed Jon understood what she was asking. He answered through a tight mouth, “Yes.”

Daenerys pulled back and brought her hand up to cup his cheek. Jon looked resigned, but his eyes were full of love for her. She knew that they were in love. 

Still, she hesitated to act. So Jon acted for her, rushing forward to kiss her. His lips captured hers and Daenerys dropped the knife in the sand, as her hands dove into his curls. His slightly chapped lips tasted of cooked fish and the salt of the air. Daenerys never wanted to let go.

She continued to hold him as they fell back into the arms of the ocean. If her sisters saw her fall, Daenerys didn’t know, she was too lost in Jon’s kiss.

* * *

A mermaid’s kiss was a rare gift and deadly to almost all who received it. For only a true love could receive the blessing of such a gift, an eternal life spent with the one you loved. 

Jon Snow was a blessed man.


End file.
